Response to Sam Webb’s “Main report to the Communist Party USA National Committee, November 17, 2012″

What is really significant about Chairperson Webb’s “report” is that
it is not a report at all. The document is written in vague generalities
with a great deal of bombast, pontification and posturing. Chairperson
Webb fails to specify what the CPUSA has been doing as an organized
party or what it intends to do in the future. He only makes vague
statements about how almost all of the members participated in the
election. By participation, does he mean managing campaigns, running
candidates, doing fundraising or working in a capitalist party’s
campaign? Perhaps he just means voting. This is unclear.

It appears that Chairman Webb has forgotten Marx’ teaching that
“content precedes form.” This paper is all about form with little regard
to content.

Let’s examine the title of the document “Defeat for the right,
victory for the people & democracy.” The first phrase “defeat for
the right” is hard to fathom. Although it must be conceded that
President Obama has taken a more progressive stance on a number of
issues when compared with his opponent, candidate Romney, this does not
mean that President Obama is a socialist or communist. He is a member of
one of the two ruling bourgeois parties in the United States. For this
reason, it can be expected that he will support the interests of the
wealthy classes more often than not. It should also be remembered that
he was elected with the endorsements of both Colin Powell and Michael
Bloomberg. His campaign received truckloads of money from the
ultra-wealthy and their corporate surrogates. These endorsements and
financial contributions must be remunerated by Mr. Obama and such
remuneration will dearly cost the people.

The second phrase “victory for the people” is also hard to stomach.
To which people is Mr. Webb referring? Is he referring to the people of
Palestine and/or Iran? Is he referring to workers in this country who
are oppressed? Is he referring to labor union members who received no
support from the president on passing the Employee Free Choice Act? Is
he referring to maimed and deceased veterans returning from the endless
imperialist wars in the Middle East and elsewhere? Perhaps Mr. Webb is
referring to the people on Wall Street and in corporate offices across
the USA. If you look at Mr. Obama’s record, it is clear that he has
served those people well over the last four years.
The third phrase “victory for… Democracy” also presents some
problems. To what kind of democracy is Mr. Webb referring? In the USA,
there is only one form of democracy and it is bourgeois democracy. This
form of democracy serves to protect the interests of the wealthy
classes. It protects the wealthy classes from the demands of working
people. It upholds the interests of imperialism, while simultaneously
creating an illusion among workers that they really have a voice in the
conduct of the business of the country. Although elections, even
bourgeois elections, are an important arena for struggle, we should not
harbor any illusions about their real purpose, which is to prop up the
wealthy classes. As Lenin said, “elections solve nothing.”
Mr. Webb says “The better angels of the American people spread their
wings.” This phraseology would be appropriate if written by a Catholic
priest rather than the Chairperson of the Communist Party. Such
idealistic thinking should be anathema to a Communist Party based on
Marxism Leninism and dialectical materialism.

It is interesting that Mr. Webb notes that “An African-American
president was reelected to the presidency, the Democrats unexpectedly
strengthened their hand in the Senate and House, new progressive voices,
like Elizabeth Warren, are coming to Washington, and victories,
including for marriage equality, occurred at the state level.” Although
it is a fact that an African-American was elected to the office of
presidency, what does this mean in terms of the progressive struggle? In
fact, the statement reflects some racist thinking. Martin Luther King,
Jr told us that people should be judged not by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character. It opens the question “What would
Mr. Webb suggest we do if Dennis Kucinich was running against Clarence
Thomas?” Mr. Webb’s reference to Elizabeth Warren “coming to Washington”
fails to recognize that also the right wing Tea Party extremist, Ted
Cruz, from Texas, will also be moving to Washington.
Mr. Webb maintains “The Communist Party said a year ago that the 2012
elections would be the main front of the class and democratic struggle
and subsequent events have confirmed that fact.” To what events is Mr.
Webb referring? Many people agree that wages and benefits of workers are
always the front line of the class struggle. The fight for peace and
justice and the right to organize are also main fronts of the class
struggle. The fight against imperialism is also an important front in
the class struggle. Mr. Webb goes on “Indeed, we argued…that defeating
right-wing extremism was the key to moving the whole chain of democratic
struggle forward.” There is only one way to defeat right-wing extremism
once and for all and that will happen when socialism replaces
capitalism on a global level. Again, it must be asked that if Mr. Webb
believed that this election was crucial to the class struggle, what did
the CPUSA do to participate in that struggle? Mr. Webb makes note that
“a few weeks before the election, I attended a rally in Cleveland
organized by the Teamsters, where many labor leaders and members of
Congress spoke of the urgency of supporting President Obama.” Gus Hall
and William Foster must be spinning in their graves. They would
certainly ask why the chairperson of the CPUSA was merely attending a
labor rally but not speaking. They might also ask if the party attempted
to organize any activities of its own.

Mr. Webb makes a good point when he says “Not least, President Obama
needs to hear from the tens of millions who reelected him.” However, he
goes on to confusing statements such as “The president is the most
popular politician in the country. Nobody has the political and moral
authority that he has. He isn’t a radical, but by the same token to
classify him as a run-of-the-mill capitalist politician doesn’t fit
either. Of the Democratic Party presidents of the 20th century, none had
the deep democratic sensibilities that he possesses. It is crucial that
he lead the struggle.” To what struggle is Mr. Webb referring? Is he
referring to the fact that Mr. Obama has deported more immigrants than
any other president? Is he referring to Mr. Obama’s use of drones to
assassinate foreign nationals? Is he referring to the struggle for the
Employee Free Choice Act? Mr. Webb also states “Which is where
communists, socialists and left and progressive people come into the
picture. Our main task is to build broad people’s unity, guarantee the
participation of the key social and class forces, counter the right-wing
narrative with a working-class and people’s narrative, and bring
forward an alternative program.” It would be helpful if Mr. Webb could
be specific about the concrete actions that need to happen to bring this
about.

Mr. Webb writes “For some time now our party has recognized powerful
progressive trends in the labor movement. In this election, the actions
of labor brought those trends to a new level.” The question must be
asked “What is the party doing to build and support ‘progressive trends
in the labor movement’”?

In his section on “foreign policy”, Mr. Webb takes some issue with
the Obama administration “There is some reappraisal of the conduct of
our foreign policy going on in the Obama administration and the national
security state.” Again, Mr. Webb needs to be more specific about this
“reappraisal.” He goes on “In all likelihood some changes will occur,
not necessarily unimportant ones, but at the same time don’t expect the
Obama administration or US ruling circles to give up their global
ambitions.” Without labeling administration policies as imperialist, he
does specify a number of global hotspots to which the Obama
administration has mimicked the positions of right wing extremists
including Iran, Palestine, Cuba, DPRK and Latin America among others.
However, he proposes no action to oppose imperialism.

Mr. Webb seems to not have learned anything from Mr. Romney’s 47%
remark. Speaking of the CPUSA, he writes “Our main audience is not among
those who sat out the election struggle, but among those who were in
its front ranks.” Since reports indicate that only 60% of eligible
voters voted in the most recent election, he is dismissing the other 40%
who may have been disgruntled with the capitalist parties and their
policies. He is also dismissing people who are not eligible to vote.
This would include large segments of the population such as undocumented
immigrant workers, and people with felonies. He is also dismissing all
those who have failed to register to vote without any study of why they
failed to register. He notes that the CPUSA is too small. With such
myopic vision, one can only say “no wonder.”

In response to his vague statements about building the party, the
question should be asked “What are the concrete steps the party will
take to build a larger party?”
Another man by the name of Webb, Jack Webb, who played the part of
Sergeant Joe Friday, in the television series Dragnet many years ago
used to say, “Just the facts, ma’am.” This is important to remember when
discussing politics and economics. If we Communists are to have any
credibility at all, we must be scientific in our analyses, method and
program. We need leadership which meets those standards. The people of
this country don’t need any more talking heads. There is enough of that
on their TV.

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We need a vanguard Communist Party USA - one that rejects the Imperialist 2-party monopoly, stands on its own two feet and fights for the working class in honesty and integrity.We used to be that party, and we can be again. But first we must purge the cancer of revisionism and Browderism from our ranks, that would have us betray our fellow workers to the Imperialist ruling class for the chance to sit at the table with them. We must carve it out, and taking a cue from William Z Foster, save our party by expelling those that seek to poison it.